I would be happy if she lands her 3-3 again or her 3A. At this point she has to go for broke, try everything and get used to do them in the competition. It's not gonna be the end of the world if she loses the title here. It's Sochi she'll want to win I don't expect to see miracles from this competition.

I thought repeating a jump (in this case the 3F) in combo was not allowed? Or does a sequence not count as a combo?

Thanks for the vid! I love that Mao is going for everything she's got in her arsenal. Not just a 2A-3T but a 3A and a 3F-3T! She's doing what she has to do to WIN! Sigh-I wish some of the American skaters had a 3A in their arsenal. After Meissner I thought surely someone else would try but alas.

8 triples? Is that allowed in the women's event? I thought 7 was the limit. I could swear Sandra said that during Sarah Hughe's Olympic FS in 2002. Or perhaps I heard her wrong?

The only rule is that you can only repeat 2 triples and that the repeated triple be done in combo (otherwise it will be scored as a SEQ). 7 jumps is the limit because most of the ladies do not do a 3A, so with five jumps and two you can repeat = 7 triples.

If Mao does 3A, she has room for one more triple. She is repeating the flip and the loop. Or she could repeat the flip and the toe loop depending on which 3-3 she wants to do. 6 triples plus 2 repeats = 8 triples.

8 triples? Is that allowed in the women's event? I thought 7 was the limit. I could swear Sandra said that during Sarah Hughe's Olympic FS in 2002. Or perhaps I heard her wrong?

I thought repeating a jump (in this case the 3F) in combo was not allowed? Or does a sequence not count as a combo?

Sasha'sSpins:

Just to clarify...

1. Skaters (men and women) can do as many triples as they like, but they can only repeat two different triples (Zayak rule, which also applies to men). Therefore, if a woman performs all the triples EXCEPT the triple Axel, then the maximum she could do is 7. If a woman performs a triple axel in addition to all the triples, then the maximum she could do is 8.

2. You can repeat a jump, but one or both of the repeated jumps must be in combination with other jumps OR in a sequence in order to receive full credit. If a jump is repeated but neither is in combination, the jump performed subsequently will be given a base value of 80% as if it were done in a sequence.

3. Mao's planned 3F-2L-2L is not a sequence; it is a three jump combination.

Just a small update: it was reported earlier that Mao was practicing 3F-3L and 3L-3L. Actually, it was 3F-3L and 3F-3T. It was not reported yet which combo will Mao actually use in her program.

In an interview Mao said that her plan to attempt 3A and 3-3 here is fairly new and at the beginning of the season she wasn't sure she'd be able to land a 3-3 in her programs again. However, recently her jumps became more solid in practices. She doesn't think she's ready yet - she judges her 3A/3-3 to be about 60% ready - but she wants to attempt them here before she goes for them at Worlds.

Originally Posted by Sasha'sSpins

Thank you demarinis5! And thank you ppsk8live!!
8 triples? Is that allowed in the women's event? I thought 7 was the limit. I could swear Sandra said that during Sarah Hughe's Olympic FS in 2002. Or perhaps I heard her wrong?

It's possible for a lady skater to have 8 triples in her long program - but only if she has 3A and a 3-3. Basically, a lady skater can do 7 jumping passes, 3 of which can be combinations or sequences (one combo/seq can consist of 3 jumps) and she can repeat only 2 types of triples (the repeated triple must be in combination).

For example, let's imagine that a particularly talented lady lands:

3Lz-3T
3F-half loop-3S <-under current rules, this counts as a 3-jump combination and receives full base value)
3F
3Lz
3L
That's 7 triples already, and there's still 2 jumping passes left, including a combo! But what jumps would be actually allowed here? There are already 2 types of triple jumps repeated (Lutz and flip), so it can't be Lz, T, F, S, or L... Yeah, we have a problem. The only allowed triple would be 3A (probably attempted earlier in the program), and the remaining jumping pass would be filled with 2A in combo (or solo 2A and tack on the 2T or 2L elsewhere). A lady with no 3A could fill the remaining jumping passes only with 2A and 2A-2L (or 2A-2T).
Hope this helps.

I thought repeating a jump (in this case the 3F) in combo was not allowed? Or does a sequence not count as a combo?

It's allowed to use the same type of jump in a combo twice. So, for example, landing 3F-3T and 3F-2L-2L in the same LP would be just fine. Doing two solo triple flips, on the other hand, wouldn't be very smart, as the second one would be marked as +SEQ, receive 80% of base value, and use up one combo slot.

The 3L still looks like it would get downgraded. I'd like to see her go for the 3F-3T. Her 3T gets nice height in her 2A-3T combo so I think it'd be a better bet than going for the 3L which almost always gets a <.

I'd love to see her hitting that 3A consistently again but as long as it's not at the expense of her other jumps. She's looking a lot stronger this season so hopefully she'll build on her nationals performance and put out two strong programs here in preparation for worlds.

The second Loop in the practice video was << if you look carefully and stop the video at the right moment.

8-Triple-Program? Oh please...

3T
3A<<
3F<-3L<<
3Lz<
1S
3L-2L<-2L<
3F<-2L<

Huh? What is your problem? First of all that is not her jump layout, she most likely will keep her 2A-3T. You can keep your opinions about jump rotations after the competition, you know, when there will be an actual program to be discussed. I would also like to know why are you so sure she will single the 3S, I find it particularly interesting since she landed 3 out of 5 attempts this season. Maybe you know something we, mere mortals don't

I wonder what her FS layout will be: if she wants to keep the 3Lo as the opening jump and the 3Lo+2Lo+2Lo combo, she needs a 3F+3T as the 3-3 combo, the same if she wants to do the loop as the solo jump in the SP (I don't think she's going to try the lutz in the SP!)...

Asada tends to skate well when she's having good practices. I think she will deliver satisfying performances (not needing much help from the judges). Mao's real problem is stubbornness. At the time of last year's worlds, she couldn't land any 3A in practice (reportedly 48 attempts). It is beyond ordinary people's understanding how she is devoted to that particular jump.

Her first 3Axel looked good. (less than 1/4 and would get full credit.) The 3/3's are suspect and I think she probably has a better chance of landing a fully ratified 3Axel than a 3F+3L. She doesn't need both anyway--just one or the other. Really looking forward to this weekend and Worlds, as she seems to be much improved over last season.